I never really got the whole "Marian" worship the strip had at times. If she really would have made a casserole out of that garbage.... Blecch. Anyway, just a quiet moment where Elly comes right up to the edge of realizing that Marian's not so great.
Dawn’s Bad Haircut
2 years ago
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It's too bad that her need for approval will keep her inches from that edge; her need for praise that just isn't forthcoming is the raison-d'etre for Operation Doomed-To-Fail-One-Way-Or-Another.
::Thanks April for including bubbles::
Please tell me that those are her knees poking out of the bubbles and not her breasts.
Well, I have to say, one of Lynn's successes was in her depiction of Elly, the adult child of an abuser. (Though Marian wasn't abusive in the strip, Lynn clearly drew from her interactions with her own abusive mother.) My father was emotionally and physically abusive. Even after years of therapy, I frequently find myself mentally justifying my life choices (even some stupid ones) and think about what my father would say. Elly rings really true to me. She does a lot of stuff that screams "abused as a child" to me: her self-loathing, the excessive guilt, the way she tries to make herself sound better than she is to other people, the overeating.
Unfortunately, one of Lynn's big failures is that she didn't portray Marian to be an abuser. So we are left to wonder why Elly is such a guilt-ridden freak over such stupid things as throwing spoiled food away.
From interactions with the mother she claimed was abusive. Lynn's claimed many things.
Perhaps one day we'll know which claims were true.
Actually, I believe her about her mother. There are some things that Lynn says and does that "tag" her as an abused child, that I don't think she is clever enough to fake. Ironically, all the lying she does is a typical symptom.
[H]er need for praise that just isn't forthcoming is the raison-d'etre for Operation Doomed-To-Fail-One-Way-Or-Another.And sadly she passes on her influence to the next generation. 0_o
::Thanks April for including bubbles::Yeah, I didn't want to give anyone nightmares. :)
Please tell me that those are her knees poking out of the bubbles and not her breasts.Knees! Definitely knees! (Now I'm going to get nightmares!)
Unfortunately, one of Lynn's big failures is that she didn't portray Marian to be an abuser. So we are left to wonder why Elly is such a guilt-ridden freak over such stupid things as throwing spoiled food away.I think this is spot-on, qnjones. I definitely perceive a disconnect between the way LJ potrays Marian and the dynamic expressed in the mother-daughter relationship. It's as though she wanted to create an idealized version of her mother for Elly, but she only had her own dysfunctional relationship to draw on.
One strip that LJ did not reprint was from right after Elly's solo trip to Vancouver--where Elly says her mother always gives her confidence and makes her see the best in life... by calling her a spoiled brat. That strip just makes me sad.
Thank goodness. When you drew Elly in the bath, you didn't include stink lines, like Lynn did.
My word verification is "grate" -- which explains what FBOFW does to my nerves.
When you drew Elly in the bath, you didn't include stink lines, like Lynn did.::checks reference strip::
Eee, you're right. LJ sure was tough on her avatar.
My word verification is "grate" -- which explains what FBOFW does to my nerves.LOL--It's fun when the verification word is so appropriate. :)
I find the Marian/Ursula tension similiar to the Mike/Aaron tension in the strip--knowing what we know about LJ's early years as a mother, OF COURSE Aaron was a brat--his father left him, his mother engaged in some questionably (if not outright abusive) parenting practices, then his mom remarried and quickly had another kid, he didn't get along with his stepfather, and suddenly his mom's attention was split three ways instead of just the one. That's absoloutely a recipe for a stressed out, needy, demanding, and angry child.
But to have that sort of behavior transferred onto Michael without the same circumstances, with an occasional "Boys will be boys!" comment from John, Mike really does come off as an entitled, obnoxious brat. His behavior doesn't really come from anywhere, and just appears to be destructive and wild for the sake of being destructive and wild.
Unfortunately, one of Lynn's big failures is that she didn't portray Marian to be an abuser.Actually, it makes sense that Lynn wouldn't portray Marian as an abuser. Since that would be what she knew (and especially since much of what we now consider abuse was accepted child-raising technique when she was a child), she would accept such child-raising habits as normal.
Cedar:
I find the Marian/Ursula tension similiar to the Mike/Aaron tension in the strip...Interesting point. howtheduck has sometimes pointed to aspects of the John/Mike relationship that "fit" more with a stepfather/stepson dynamic than father/son. It's another instance where the overlay was jarring.
godozo, I've often perceived that LJ had certain blindspots about certain types of abuse. Like she gets that beating the crap out of a child is abusive, but she misses more subtle forms.
It's a failure on Lynn's part as an artist, because she missed out on what could have been some of the most groundbreaking stuff in her career. But it's totally understandable that Lynn the person wouldn't fully recognize the abuse or might instinctively want to deny it.
Hmm, are you sure that those "stink lines" weren't supposed to be steam lines when a Patterson was in the bath? I'll have to see an example...
Whoops, I forgot...I want a bathtub like that! One that I can stretch all the way out in, and the water goes up to my neck! I'm jealous!
Destroyer of Worlds, see the first strip of March at the foob site. The lines only appear in the first panel and you're probably right about the steam. Though "stink" is a funny interpretation. :)
I'd like to have that bathtub, too!
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